


Where There’s A Will, There’s A Way

by GotAnIssueHeresATissue



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Mutual Pining, Slow Burn, Slow burn isn’t really slow tho
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-09
Updated: 2020-02-04
Packaged: 2020-02-29 01:18:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 16,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18768247
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GotAnIssueHeresATissue/pseuds/GotAnIssueHeresATissue
Summary: Tired of his anti-social tendencies, Nico di Angelo’s father forces him to attend a summer camp. Before he even arrives at Camp Half-Blood, the brooding Italian teenager already knows that he will hate it. To make matters worse, there’s a cute first-aid station assistant who gets on his nerves and just won’t leave him alone. Nico is not interested in making any new friends, but this first-aid assistant seems determined to either ruin Nico’s summer or make it the best one he’s ever had.





	1. Summer Sucks

  Nico di Angelo stared out at the passing scenery from the car’s passenger seat window, arms crossed and mood absolutely foul.

  It was the first day of summer vacation, he was fifteen, and it was the perfect time to stay home to binge-watch Netflix shows until dawn before sleeping until the sun set, but his father had gone and decided to sign him up for some dumb summer camp. 

  He couldn’t even be bothered to drive Nico to the camp himself, not that the boy had any problem with their chauffeur, Jules-Albert, but his expression was always kind of… lifeless. Also his French accent was really hard to understand sometimes. He appreciated that Jules-Albert never bothered him though, he’d much rather a silent car ride than one with small talk. That kind of thinking was probably what made his father send him off to “make friends” in the first place. He was _not_ ‘anti-social’ and ‘too cynical about everything’, he was just careful about who he trusted and was not interested in awkward conversations with people about things he couldn’t care less about.    

  Everyone walked on eggshells around him ever since his older sister Bianca had passed away in a car accident when he was ten. They had been very close, and after that, Nico cut everyone out of his life, shying away from any social interaction. He became notorious for his anger and bad moods.    

  There was once in school, a mischievous pair of twins Connor and Travis Stoll nailed him with a water balloon after P.E lesson in the boys’ changing room. He immediately brought a slingshot out from his locker and gave Connor a black eye and Travis a swollen nose, leaving them with a warning: “Next time, I’ll set your clothes on fire… While you’re wearing them.” 

  Safe to say, the pranksters left Nico alone. He almost smiled at the memory. 

  Besides his irritability, people mostly let him get away with things because one, both his mother and sister were deceased, and two, his father was notably wealthy, being the owner of several big businesses. Nico had grown up feeling like he didn’t fit in anywhere. Kids his age were afraid of him and his father had thrown himself into work, probably as some form of escape from the pain of losing his wife and daughter. 

  Things got better after Hades met Persephone, and then Hazel arrived. Hazel was adopted, a few months younger than Nico, and could never fill the hole Bianca left, but they took to each other immediately. 

  His anger abated considerably after, meaning he was mostly able to keep his temper in check without causing physical harm to others, but his unfriendly and gloomy attitude remained. 

  He only reconnected with Percy Jackson, Jason Grace, and Annabeth Chase, three people who he had pushed away but had forced themselves back into his life, which he was secretly grateful for. By extension, he made friends with Piper McLean who was Jason’s girlfriend, Leo Valdez, and Frank Zhang, who was Hazel’s boyfriend. They were all two or three years older than him, but only Annabeth acted her age(or even older sometimes). 

  Percy and Jason were sons of his dad’s friends-slash-business rivals, and it had actually been these business rivals who had suggested the idea of him attending summer camp to Nico’s father. They were three big-shot businessmen who nicknamed themselves after the three big Greek gods during their college days, and the names had embarrassingly stuck. 

  Nico had been dealing with harbouring a huge crush on Percy at one point when he was younger which contributed to the anger and feeling out of place, especially when he had suddenly come back from camp one summer with Annabeth his official girlfriend. It was all mostly water under the bridge now, though, and they all got along well. He was glad all of them would be coming back to help out at camp, besides Frank and Hazel who had decided to attend another camp called Camp Jupiter.

  He snapped out of his reverie when the car pulled over. They had stopped in front of a colourfully decorated sign with the words “Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!” hand-painted on it. A wheelchair-bound man with an impressive beard waited at the entrance. Nico and Jules-Albert got out of the car and approached him.   

  “Hello, you must be Nico di Angelo,” he spared a quick glance at the clipboard in his hand,”my name is Chiron, I am the activities director of Camp Half-Blood.”  

  He nodded unenthusiastically and went to get his backpack and duffel bag from the boot of the car while Jules-Albert spoke to the man. This would be the first time he was away from home for such a long time, and he couldn’t stop his stomach from rising to his throat. The chauffeur returned to to shake Nico’s hand, wishing him all the best and telling him that he would be back to pick him up in one and a half months.   

  He ignored the pang of sadness at Jules-Albert leaving. He hadn’t even entered the damn camp, and already homesickness was gnawing at him. He mourned his laptop with Netflix sitting at home, probably wondering why nobody was staring into its screen for hours at a time. At least he still had his phone with Netflix installed as well, so it wasn’t a total loss. He whipped out the device and frowned at the lack of signal bars. No problem, there were other means of communication if he could just secure an internet connection.   

  “Mr. Chiron, what’s the Wi-Fi here?” Although he was sitting down, Nico could tell that Chiron was a tall man. He wondered what had happened to his legs, but was not going to ask about something so personal like that.   

  “Just Chiron is fine,” he smiled as he opened the wooden gate, ”and there is no Wi-Fi. We believe our camp activities and interactions with other campers should be enough for entertainment, so you will not have to rely on technology to occupy yourself. We do have a phone in the Big House should you want to contact your parents.”  

  Nico froze and his heart sank, barely hearing anything after the ‘no Wi-Fi’. “ _What_ …?”   

  He turned to make a mad dash back to the car so he could force Jules-Albert to take him home, but the chauffeur was already halfway down the gravelly road. His father had _not_ mentioned that there would be no internet, but left with no choice, Nico trudged along behind Chiron.    

  The camp itself was quite beautiful, and it really looked like it had a lot of different activities. From just along the way to Chiron’s office at a place called the Big House, Chiron pointed out places they passed as they walked.  

  From the entrance of the camp, they made their way up a hill named ‘Half-Blood Hill’ where a huge statue and large pine tree draped with some sort of golden garment stood, an arts-and-crafts area, an amphitheatre where campfires were held, a volleyball court, and a large strawberry field. The breeze carried the sweet scent all over the camp, calming Nico’s nerves slightly.   

  “We have arrived at the Big House, where I can be found most of the time. Let’s get you registered, and someone will take you to your cabin. As requested, you will be staying alone at the Hades Cabin due to personal sleeping problems.”   

  Nico flushed in embarrassment, but was grateful for the personal space. He knew it made him look bratty to use his father’s influence to get a cabin for himself, but he really did have night terrors. It made him self-conscious to sleep with others around. In fact, Percy and Jason faced the same problems, and got their own cabins, the Poseidon and Zeus cabins, as well. It helped that their fathers were generous donators to the camp, so there were twenty cabins in total all paid for by the three businessmen. That was probably why all of them were named after different Greek gods as well. 

  Once registration was done, they left the Big House. 

  “Can Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Piper McLean, or Jason Grace bring me to my cabin?” 

  ”I’m afraid they will only be arriving later on before dinner.” Chiron looked at the disappointed boy apologetically before scanning the area in front of them. “Let’s see…” 

  A group of kids equipped with bows and arrows were walking towards them along the strawberry fields. 

  “Will!” Chiron called to the group. 

  It caught all the kids’ attention, and one boy detached from the group to jog up to them. As he got closer, the wind blew and ruffled his blonde curls, and with his flip-flops, surfer shorts, and orange Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, he looked like some beach commercial model. Nico’s eyes couldn’t help but drag appreciatively along the athletic body, and much to his chagrin, butterflies filled his gut. Nico quickly lowered his gaze to study a row of ants along the ground instead. What the heck was wrong with him?? Will climbed the first few steps and stopped in front of the pair.  

  “Hey, Chiron. What’s up?” He even had a nice voice, what was up with that?   

  “This is Nico di Angelo. He will be occupying the Hades cabin for the summer. Nico, this is Will Solace.”   

  Will whistled, impressed. “Hi, Nico.”  

  Nico could feel both their gazes on him, but his glare burned into the ants. Will bent down to look at the trail of ants as well before he looked up, catching Nico’s eyes with a teasing smile tugging at his lips. “Some concentration. Is this your first time seeing ants?” 

  He felt a spike of annoyance with his already bad mood. He trained his glare onto the blonde and couldn’t prevent the ice that clung to his tone. “No, but it is my first time seeing a different kind of pest.”  

  Will blinked at the retort. Realisation that he had just instinct-insulted the guy fully dawned on Nico, but it was getting too awkward to apologise so he just stood there, gnawing on his bottom lip and avoiding eye contact. The blonde huffed and straightened.

  “Alright then, di Angelo…” Will reached out to take Nico’s bag from him, their fingers lightly brushing and sending electric currents racing up his arm. “Let’s just get you to your cabin.” 

  “Thank you, Will. Please explain the rules and daily schedule to him as well. Nico, everything you need should be in the camper packet on your bed, but feel free to look for me if you should need anything.” Chiron turned back to re-enter the Big House.  

  “Thank you for your help, Chiron.” Nico piped up, and Will nodded his acknowledgement to the activities director. The Italian dreaded walking alone with the blonde, but he had no choice. Hopefully they could just get to the cabin in silence, and they wouldn’t have to see each other for the rest of the camp. Nico was sure he broke the record of how fast he could make a bad first impression.  

  “So there _are_ some manners in you after all,” Will commented with a darting sidelong glance as they descended the steps.  

  Nico was about to wise off on him again, but caught himself this time. 

  “… Sorry.” Nico gripped his backpack straps tightly and looked at his shoes. Heat was creeping onto his face again. “For calling you a pest.“  

  He meekly looked up at the blonde, whose eyes were wide in surprise and whose cheeks were, for some reason, also reddening. Will cleared his throat and look straight ahead. “Nah, it wasn’t a big deal. I was kinda teasing you a little, too.”

  ”I noticed. Who hasn’t seen ants before?” the Italian grumbled, and his heart jumped when Will laughed. His laugh was nice. He wasn’t sure how to describe someone’s laugh beyond saying it was nice to listen to, and actually lightened his mood a little. 

  As they walked, Will explained the rules of the camp. Breakfast was at eight, lunch at twelve, and dinner at seven, each mealtime lasting one hour. Lights out was at ten-thirty. No one was allowed in the woods before breakfast and after dinner, except for fridays when everyone had to play Capture The Flag. There were wild animals living in the woods and people patrolling the area, so it was better to just follow that rule to stay out of trouble.  

  The camp worked in a buddy system, and once all the campers arrived that night, Chiron was going to pair them all off.  Basically, buddies had to watch each other’s backs. Two kids could request to buddy up and Chiron would oblige, but he would choose for the remaining kids. 

  Camp activities were scheduled, so if he wanted to join a certain activity, Nico could check the schedule sheet and sign up for it. Registration had a deadline of at least one day before, so there wouldn’t be overflowing of campers in the same activity and time slot, but the first day of camp was getting to know people and group ice-breakers, so the actual activities technically wouldn’t begin until the third day. 

  They walked past the cabins, alll decorated differently. One had flowers all over and a beautiful garden, one had barbed wires and red walls, and another had lacy curtains and a blue roof. They arrived at the Hades cabin, whose walls were painted black and lacking a window. Just how Nico liked it. 

  ”You can go to Chiron if you need anything, but if it’s something I can help with, you can come look for me too. I’m mostly in the infirmary, or in the Apollo cabin.” Will pointed at a cabin not too far away, painted gold and looking like it glowed in the light of the sunset. 

  ”The infirmary?”

  ”Yeah, I’m the first-aid assistant.”

  Nico’s heart swelled in gratitude. They had gotten off on the wrong foot earlier, but Will was still so nice to him. Maybe they would even end up friendly enough that they would greet each other when they passed.

  ”Thanks,” Nico’s smile was not wide, but it was genuine. “I appreciate it.”  

  Will responded with a grin. “That’s the first proper smile I’ve seen from you.”  

  ”Yeah, well…” Nico’s smile dropped and he turned away, unlocking the door with the cabin key Chiron had given him. “Thanks for the help, I can handle it from here.”  

  “Alright. You know where to find me.” Will handed him the duffel bag. “See you at dinner.”  

  Because Nico hadn’t brought much, unpacking didn’t take too long and he went on to open the camp packet laying on his bed.   

  Admittedly, the list of camp activities looked fun, and there were a lot of them. He marked out a few he was interested in on the schedule, then moved on to flip through the journal that came in the packet. The brown cover was faux-leather bound with the words “Camp Half-Blood” engraved, and Nico would decide later on if he would actually use it. Taking one look at the bright orange shirt with “Camp Half-Blood” and a running pegasus printed on it, he tossed it into one of the wardrobe drawers. He would keep it as a memento, but there was no way he was wearing it. The camp necklace was cool though. His friends all had one, and had told him that at the end of the camp each year, campers would receive a bead painted with something that represented that particular summer, so no two beads were ever the same. Theirs had many beads already strung, so he was kind of excited to finally receive one.  

  Speaking of his friends…  

  The brunette glanced at his alarm clock. It was half an hour to dinner, so they had probably arrived by now. He got off the bed and stretched. He looked at the camp map included in the packet and locked his cabin door before making his way to the Poseidon cabin.  

  Percy had indeed arrived and was unpacking with Annabeth’s help. She had already settled her own things, and Percy was not the most organised person.   

  “Nico!” Percy happily bounded to the door from his messy pile of clothes that the pair had been sorting into the drawers. “Finally, your first summer at Camp Half-Blood!”  

  Annabeth followed with a kind smile. “I hope you’ll love it as much as we all do. Chiron’s cool, and the campers are all generally really nice.”  

  ”We’ll introduce you to everyone, and show you the coolest spots around.” Percy winked and jabbed Nico with an elbow. “Anyway, come in! Welcome to el Poseidon cabin.”  

  “Sorry for the mess,” Annabeth turned a stormy glare to her boyfriend, “which we’d better get back to if Percy wants to make it in time for dinner.” 

  At the mention of food, Percy hurried back to the pile of clothes and started sorting through them at lightning speed. 

  “Where’re the others?” Nico asked Annabeth.

  ”Leo couldn’t make it this year because he came down with a fever two days ago. It sounded pretty bad so he’s in the hospital, but Calypso’s with him so it should be alright. If he feels well enough, he might come to camp later on. Jason and Piper went to their cabins after we arrived earlier, so we’ll just meet them at the dining pavilion later.” 

  ”By the way, Nico, did Chiron tell you about the buddy system?” Percy paused from his clothes to look at the boy.

  ”Yeah, I think I’ll just let him pick some random person for me.”   

  Annabeth and Percy exchanged unsure looks. That was understandable, Nico had issues with strangers, so volunteering to be the odd man out was not really in his character.  

  ”I thought we could be partners, Nico!” Percy smiled kindly. 

  ”Yeah, I thought I’d buddy with someone from the Athena cabin instead this year.” Annabeth added. 

  Nico felt warmth and shame in his heart. He wanted to accept, but he couldn’t. “Nah. You guys go ahead, I need to make at least one friend from camp that isn’t you guys, right?” 

  He made sure to bury the bitterness of feeling left out. Nico wasn’t dense, his friends were all couples, so they obviously wanted to pair up together. It wasn’t their fault, and he hoped whoever Chiron picked for him wasn’t someone annoying.  

  “Are you sure, Neeks?” Ugh, Percy only called him that when he was trying to baby him.  

  “ _Yes_ , Perseus. Why, are you bored of girls already?” Nico risked making things awkward by hinting at his past feelings for Percy, but the guy wasn’t letting it go!

  Percy sputtered in panic, making Annabeth and Nico laugh at him. He was grateful that Annabeth was so chill with it.

  ”Relax, I can take care of myself, okay?”  

  Percy calmed down. “Okay. Just, if anyone bothers you, promise you’ll tell one of us.” 

  Nico rolled his eyes but nodded. He helped the couple a little with the unpacking so they could finish faster. They finally put everything away and were just about to leave the cabin when something caught Nico’s eye.  

  “Geez, Percy, I can’t believe you still read this.” Nico snorted, picking up the Sherman’s Lagoon comic book on his bed. 

  “Hey, says the nerd whose favourite comic was Foxtrot!” He shot back.

  ”Yeah, only because it was the best comic in the entire newspaper.”  

  ”What!? Annabeth, can you educate this poor, misled child and tell him that Sherman’s Lagoon is better?”  

  Annabeth shrugged. “Unlike you kids, I read the newspaper for the actual _news_.”

  The two boys continued arguing all the way to the dining pavilion about which newspaper comic strip series was the best, and it escalated when they met Jason along the way who said it was obviously the Garfield comics.  

  “Oh please, you only like Garfield because your sister called you that for trying to eat that stapler.” Percy scoffed, almost making Nico cry from laughing. Even Annabeth had to stifle a giggle.   

  Jason gasped in indignation. “You making fun of my appetite, Jackson?”  

  ”Is Garfield a fat cat, Grace?” Percy smirked triumphantly. 

  ”That’s it!” At this point, they met up with Piper, so Jason took to complaining to her about crappy friends with lousy comic tastes.  

  Nico sighed in content. He couldn’t imagine surviving this place for the whole summer if his friends weren’t there to make it bearable.  

  It turned out that each cabin had designated tables to eat at, so Nico, Jason, and Percy would be having a table each to themselves. It was weird practice for a camp that was meant for interaction and making friends, but was also apparently a rule from when the camp was first started. It also made Nico self-conscious, making it stand out that he had a whole cabin to himself.

  They all separated, and Chiron introduced Mr. D, the camp director. He was a very laid-back guy who thought he was fooling anyone when he insisted that the purple liquid in his wine glass was just plain grape juice. Nico caught Will Solace’s eye during Mr. D’s rambles of a welcome speech, and the blonde waved with a smile. Nico’s heart clenched as he weakly returned it and quickly turned his attention back to the speech. He ignored the heat that seeped onto his face, attributing it to the warming summer nights.  

  After dinner, the campers were gathered at the amphitheater for their first campfire of the summer. Large flames crackled in the middle of the amphitheater, illuminating the area despite the darkening sky. Chiron announced that they were going to have self-introductions before pairing them off with buddies, and then they had some free time to mingle until lights out.  

  Nico groaned quietly at the mention of self-introductions. 

  They went around the amphitheater, with campers standing up and introducing themselves. He looked up in surprise when he heard Connor and Travis Stoll introducing themselves from the Hermes cabin, not realising that they had been attending Camp Half-Blood. When it eventually came to his turn, he just stood and said “Nico di Angelo, Hades cabin” before quickly sitting back down.

  Jason gave him a disapproving look at only providing his curtness, but he just rolled his eyes. Just because everyone else liked to share their hobbies or life stories as an introduction didn’t mean Nico felt the same. Just because other people had super cool and interesting facts about themselves to share like wanting to be a doctor, didn’t mean that Nico did too.

  Once all the campers had gone, Chiron held a bowl filled with folded paper, announcing that he was going to pair off buddies now. First, he read from another sheet of paper for pairs that had requested for specific buddies, and as expected, his friends coupled off. Connor and Travis Stoll also expectedly requested to be buddies. Chiron started pulling names from the bowl and people were paired off. It came to a point where Nico thought the man had forgotten to even put his name in, when the last two names were announced.  

  “Apollo cabin’s Will Solace, your buddy is Hades cabin’s Nico di Angelo.” 

  Nico felt an unexpected jolt of excitement. The feeling amplified when the blonde came over to him from across the amphitheater to stand in front of him, all smiles and sunshine. “Hey, what are the chances, right? Guess we’re buddies!”  

  Percy stood and patted Will’s shoulder. “Long time no see, Will!”

  ”Yeah! I’m glad you guys came back this year, too.” He exchanged friendly hugs with all of them. “I didn’t know you were friends with Nico.” 

  The four of them looked confused. “I didn’t know _you_ were friends with Nico,” Percy raised an eyebrow.

  ”He isn’t,” Nico interjected. “I mean, he was the one Chiron asked to take me to Hades cabin when I first arrived.”

  “Come on, Will, let’s go!” A girl with red hair streaked in green called from a distance. Beside her stood a guy with dark, cornrowed hair.  

  “I gotta go, see you around, Nico. See ya, guys.” Will smiled over his shoulder before hurrying towards the waiting pair.

“Well, if Will Solace is your partner, there’s nothing to worry about. He’s a nice guy.” Jason ruffled Nico’s hair.

 He swatted the hand away. “Yeah, I know.”

  The campfire was put out, and the six of them made their way back to Percy’s cabin to hang out for a bit since there was around an hour before lights out. They talked about plans for the next month and a half, and since they had been attending camp for years, all of them besides Nico would be helping out with the activities. 

  Nico still didn’t have to worry about activities yet because it was group ice breakers for tomorrow, and he had already marked out his interests on the schedule, so there was no rush.   

  Half an hour to lights out, Nico decided to go back to his room. He got ready for bed and flopped onto it. He saw the camp journal sitting on the bedside table, and after a moment’s consideration, cracked it open to quickly write something before going to sleep.

  _27 June, Day one._

_Maybe Camp Half-Blood isn’t so bad._

  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no affiliation with Foxtrot, Sherman’s Lagoon, and Garfield comics!  
> Also come on who’s with me, we all used to read the newspaper for the comics, amirite :)
> 
> This started as a one-shot that didn’t stop, so now I have ideas for a multi-chaptered story..  
> I’ll take it as practice lol, so please feel free to let me know what’s weird, what sucked, and what didn’t suck! :D I’ll probably edit it as I go too, I spot any mistakes on my own.  
> The plan is to update weekly, or as quickly as possible.
> 
> P.S. I <3 constructive critisicm too.


	2. Sickness Sucks

  Nico woke multiple times throughout the night. Especially when sleeping in unfamiliar surroundings, he tended to have more active dreams, about wrinkly, feathered creatures that looked like they came straight from hell into his imagination, and kept him awake for quite a while each time they invaded his sleep. 

   

 

 

  The brunette gave in, dragging himself out of bed twenty minutes before his seven-thirty alarm when he couldn’t go back to sleep. He got dressed and habitually checked his phone while brushing his teeth, tossing the phone on his bed when he was reminded of the lack of reception. Instead, he could take the time to wince at his bloodshot and dark-circled eyes from unrestful sleep.

  

  The day was going to be filled with ice-breaker games, which Nico was honestly not looking forward to. Most of the time, they were activities, bonding and getting to know other people, none of which was his strong suit. He slipped a couple of his favourite lollipops in his pocket in case he needed a burst of sugar-driven energy between activities.

  

  On the way to the dining pavilion, Nico ran into Harley, Camp Half-Blood’s youngest camper who loved arts and crafts and making things. His dad was a mechanic, and so for a kid who spent a lot of time with his father at his shop, he was already building solid muscle. The boy absolutely loved Leo, and had been disappointed when he learned that the guy wasn’t at camp. 

  

  Harley was on his hands and knees, shuffling through grass and dirt. He was ready to continue on to the dining pavilion, but sniffling sounds coming from him threw Nico off. Was he crying? He was, and even Nico wasn’t so heartless to ignore a crying child.

  

  He approached the boy. “Hi Harley, what’s up?”

  

  Harley looked up with tear-stricken cheeks, and he looked so upset that Nico bent down beside him. “I-I was going to the dining pavilion, and I was looking at my compass, the one Leo made for me. And I tripped and dropped it, and now I lost it!” He hiccuped and fresh tears spilled from his eyes.

  

  ”Hey, don’t cry.” Nico resisted commenting on the irony of losing a compass because he was sure it would make the situation worse. “I’m sure it’s around here somewhere, I’ll help you look, okay?” He awkwardly patted Harley on the head in a consolation attempt. They retraced Harley’s steps, trying to find where the boy had fallen and trying to calculate where the compass could have fallen. 

  

  “Let’s play a game,” Nico took out a lollipop, giving it to Harley. “If we don’t find it by the time you finish this, we’ll tell Leo that I was being attacked by a wild bear, and you saved my life by throwing the compass at its head, so he has to make you a new one.”

  

  Harley cracked a small smile. “He’s not gonna believe such a dumb story.”

  

  “Wow, why don’t you come up with something better, then?”

  

  They searched the ground while coming up with far-fetched stories of how Harley had lost the compass that they could tell Leo. A short while later, Harley cried out in triumph with the half-finished lollipop in his mouth and held up the compass. It had ended up partially hidden by a rock. Harley squeezed Nico in a hug, probably bruising his kidneys, and informing Nico that he was now Harley’s second favourite person that was not family.

  

  Despite the detour, Nico still arrived before the food was set up. He sat at his table, lying on crossed arms. He was sure he’d be tired by dinner and was light dozing when a hand grabbing his shoulder scared him. The brunette shot up so quickly he almost headbutted Jason in the face. 

  

  “Good gods, Grace, don’t scare me like that.” Well, he was wide awake now.

  

  ”Sorry, sorry. You’re up early, I wanted to check if you were still alive after your first night here.” the blonde smirked. 

  

  “The usual.” Nico held back a yawn, tearing up from it. “I’m so tired.” His head fell back into his arms. 

  

  “How many times did you wake up?”

  

  ”Maybe four.”

  

  ”Oof,” Jason patted his head sympathetically. “Take it easy during the games today, and see if you have time to squeeze in a nap later.”

  

  Nico nodded, but couldn’t doze off again because the others had also arrived. They hung out until people started arriving and the kitchen opened, then they grabbed their food to eat at their separate tables. 

  

  Chiron announced the day’s schedule, split them into groups, and reminded them that it was Friday, so the first Capture The Flag game of the summer would be that night. Cabins would have to team up, ten versus ten, and they would be responsible for forming their own teams. Percy caught his attention and signaled for them to team up, to which Nico smiled gratefully in response. At least he didn’t have to worry about that, too. 

  

  After breakfast, all the campers gathered at the amphitheater. There was a nice, even forty campers including Nico, so they were split into four groups of ten. He was put in a group with Piper while Annabeth and Jason were put in another group and Percy was alone in another. It was fine, though, Percy made friends easily, so Nico didn’t feel too bad for him. Besides, he liked meeting new people. 

  

  “Nico! Looks like we’re in the same group for icebreakers!” Piper grabbed his hands happily.

  

  ”Looks like,” Nico couldn’t help giving her at least a small smile.

  

  ”If it’s anything like the past years, we’ll be playing Memory Circle first.” At Nico’s blank stare, she explained further. “It’s where we sit in a circle and then whoever starts has to say their name and a fun fact about them. Then, the person beside them has to say _their_ name and a fun fact, and also repeat what the previous person said. It goes until the circle is complete, then we go the other way.”

  

  They did, in fact, start with Memory Circle. He decided a fact that he wouldn’t mind sharing with complete strangers was his favourite colour— black. Piper had shared about her family’s Cherokee background. Nico was really good at remembering people and their names, so after the first round, he pretty much knew something about everyone. 

  

  “Ugh, you don’t even like people, how are you so good at remembering names and things about them?” Piper elbowed him lightly when their turns had passed and she had remembered two names wrongly. 

  

  “I’d trade it anytime for your ability to actually get along with people.” It was true. Piper had a way with people that made it extremely hard not to like her. 

  

  “Oh, you are totally likeable,” Piper poked his arm, “you just… tend to be more selective with who you aim your charm at.”

  

  Nico poked her back. “So teach me your ways of aiming it at everyone at the same time.”

  

  ”Well _first_ ,” she poked his ribs, making him jump a little. “You have to be willing to smile more than once a day.”

  

  ”Hmmm… Nah, too much work.” Nico poked her where he knew she was sensitive— between her shoulder blades, and Piper let out a little yelp. 

  

  “Yeah, right, I saw you this morning on the way back from my morning run, you know. Helping Harley and giving him a lollipop and everything.” She jabbed him in the chest. Nico forgot that Piper was one of those people who actually willingly got up earlier in the morning to run. “You’re getting soft, di Angelo.”

  

  ”Well, eight-year-old kids don’t count, _McLean_.” He flicked her neck.

  

  They stopped their little poking war when the circle had come back to them again, and this time Piper only got one person’s fun fact wrong. 

  

  The morning went on with similar games where they repeated campers’ names and something about themselves. The group members switched around between games with five people changing groups each time so there were new members every game. There were a couple of games involving blindfolds like Hog Call and Find Your Partner, which would have made Nico very anxious, but his partners were Annabeth for both games and they somehow just clicked. They were like a well-oiled machine, giving and following directions flawlessly even when blindfolded. 

  

  By lunch, Nico was pretty sure he at least knew everyone’s name. While they ate, Chiron revealed their next activity… Volleyball. The Italian sighed; He was not bad at sports, he was quite good at them in fact, but after an almost sleepless night and memorising names all morning, Nico was tired. Well, more tired than he had been earlier. They had a half hour break after lunch and were expected to be at the volleyball courts by one forty-five, so Nico shoveled down his food quickly to try and catch some sleep. 

  

  Thankfully, the games earlier had not required a lot of moving around, but Nico had still been borderline sweltering in his black t-shirt and jeans. He definitely could not play volleyball in that attire, so he was going to have to suck it up and change into the shortest pants he had. They still went down past his knees, but were better than nothing. He washed up quickly to refresh himself, and decided just underwear was fine for a nap since he locked his door anyway. Nico set an alarm for fifteen minutes before the gathering time, and tried to sleep.

  

  His nap was as restless as his sleep at night. It ended up being a series of intermittent dozing where he didn’t even fall fully asleep. In fact, when he woke up to the alarm, his grogginess had developed into a headache, and he was still tired. In addition, his dry throat now had an irritating itch that he coughed to soothe. 

  

  “Damnit,” he grumbled, staggering out of bed. When his brain felt a little less like a load of laundry in a washing machine spin cycle, and spots had cleared from his vision, Nico went to the bathroom to splash water on his face and get dressed. The shock of cold water did little to cool the heat on his face and neck, but nonetheless made him feel a little bit better.

  

   He hurried to the volleyball courts, and his friends winced when he arrived. 

   

  “Wow, you kind of look worse, Nico.” Jason said.

   

   Nico grunted. A headache did not help his mood.

   

  ”Are you up for volleyball? We can tell Chiron to let you sleep instead.” Piper’s voiced was filled with concern.

   

   As tempted as Nico was to agree and head back to cabin, it was just a little sleep deprivation, and he already drawn enough attention by getting Hades cabin to himself. If he started skipping activities from the first day, he was sure people would get the impression he was just pushing his dad’s weight around or something. He cleared the itch in his throat. “It’s fine, maybe I’ll get picked for umpire.”

   

   Obviously, he did not end up getting to be the umpire and soon found himself a player on the sandy court. At this point, his head started actually hurting, and only two points into the first game, Nico was trying to clear his slightly blurred vision when there was a loud smack of impact that he realised came from him when he found himself laying on the sand. His eyes were closed, the pain in his brain and on the left side of his face being the last thing he felt before the world became quiet. 

   

   When Nico woke up, the first thing he noticed was that he was in a bed in unfamiliar surroundings with white walls. The second thing he noticed was the damply warm cloth lying across his forehead. His head throbbed with a dull ache instead of the earlier sharp stabs of pain, and his body felt hot, but he shivered through a cold spell. 

   

   Nico sat up, dropping the cloth on the blanket; his throat burned and it hurt to swallow. 

   

  ”You’re awake!” Nico’s attention snapped to the approaching blonde in a t-shirt and surfer shorts.

   

  Will Solace took the cloth from his lap and left it to soak in a small basin of water on a table beside the bed, and picked up an oral thermometer to take his temperature.

  

  ”What does it say?” Nico asked.

  

  ”102.9 degrees.” The blonde grimaced.

  

   He gave Nico a bottle of water, who drank almost half of it immediately, the cool liquid comforting his scratchy throat. He sighed from the relief, and caught Will’s almost expectant stare. Nico perked up in realisation and raised the water bottle. “Oh… Thank you.”

  

  The blonde shook his head. “Why didn’t you say something earlier if you weren’t feeling well? Preferably before getting hit in the head with a volleyball and passing out.”

  

   Nico’s already flushed face darkened into an embarrassed blush and he groaned, burying his face in his hands. “Shit. That’s embarrassing, in front of everyone, too…”

  

  Will pulled his hands away surprisingly roughly. “That’s not what I meant.” His blue eyes were filled with exasperation. “ You _know_ that I’m the first-aid assistant, and I told you to look for me anytime. How could I know you’re not feeling well if you don’t _say_ anything, and why do I have to find out from your friends while you’re being carried here, unconscious?”

  

  Nico was stunned into silence. He was surprised by how upset Will was.

  

  “I- I was just tired,” he replied once he found his voice, “it wasn’t a big deal. Why are you so angry?” Now he was starting to get worked up, and he did _not_ like to be touched without permission. He wrenched his hands free with a glare.

   

  “I’m not angry!” Will exclaimed and threw his hands up. But then he stopped and took a deep breath. “I’m not angry, I was… I’m worried.” His tone was much calmer now.

   

  ”Oh.” Nico didn’t know how to respond to that. “Sorry.”

   

  ”No, I’m sorry,” Will ran a hand through his blonde curls. “I guess I got a little intense.”

   

   Nico raised his eyebrows. “A little?”

   

   He breathed a laugh and took the cloth out of the basin, wringing it until it was more damp than wet. He folded it and hung it over the edge of the basin, putting the back of his hand to feel Nico’s forehead. His hand felt nice on Nico’s hot forehead. “Most likely because of lack of rest, your immune system was weak. You’re running a temperature, so you’re going to have to stay in the infirmary until it goes down.”

   

   Nico suddenly realised something. “What time is it?”

   

  ”About eight-thirty. Are you hungry? You’ve been asleep for more than six hours so you missed dinner.”

   

  “Capture The Flag! I was supposed to be on Percy’s team!” 

   

   Will folded his arms. “Do you think you’re in any condition right now to capture anything? You’re still sick, the only thing you’re supposed to do is rest.”

   

  ”But now he’s one cabin short for his team…” He hated when other people were affected by his problems. 

   

  “I don’t know if it’s counted as a cabin short when there’s only one camper in it.” The blonde smiled at Nico properly for the first time that night and it made his heart jump. “I think he’d understand. Besides, it’s fair because I’m not playing either, and I think the Poseidon and Apollo cabins are on opposing teams tonight.” 

   

   That did make Nico feel a tiny bit better. At that moment, the door practically burst open, and a man with the same golden hair as Will, wearing a doctor’s coat, swept into the room holding a tray in his hands. He recognised the doctor their family went to when they got sick, but they hadn’t visited for a good while. He had been friends with his dad in school, but they eventually drifted.

   

  “Doctor Apollo?”

   

  ”Oh, the young di Angelo is up, perfect timing! Chicken soup for you.” He placed the tray with the hot soup on his lap. 

   

  ”Dad! It’s an infirmary, can’t you open the door quietly?” Will complained.

   

  ”Dad?” Nico repeated in surprise. Will was their family doctor’s son?

   

  ”I sure hope not, that would be awkward.” Doctor Apollo grinned. “Your mother was—”

   

   Nico tensed and looked down at the soup.

   

   Silence blanketed the room. 

   

   Will’s dad barked a nervous laugh. “Well then, I’d best go and see what it was Chiron needed me for.” He quickly left, reminding Nico of a tornado. Sweeping in, making a mess, and then disappearing just as quickly.

   

  ”I am _so_ sorry—” Will started.

   

  “Forget it.” Nico interrupted, looking down at the broth and eating a spoonful. “I’m not really hungry.”

   

  ”Okay well, what do you like to eat?” Will looked grateful for the change of subject. “Don’t tell anyone, but if the right person asks the cooks, they can take special requests for infirmary patients.” 

   

  “Can they make minestra soup?” The question was asked before he could stop himself.

   

   Nico’s mother used to make minestra soup with potatoes and rice for him when he was sick, and had only taught Jules-Albert how to make it, so it became a sort of comfort food. Of course, it wouldn’t actually be the same, but he needed some comfort.

   

  “Probably! The cooks here are crazy good.”

   

   Nico had, in fact, noticed that the food here was indeed really good, so maybe they could pull off a minestra. It had been a while since he had fallen ill, so he couldn’t help getting a bit excited for tomorrow’s lunch. “Can they make it with potatoes and rice?”

   

   Will chuckled. “I’ll make sure to ask them.” 

   

  “Thanks,” Nico smiled. 

   

   Will returned the smile. “Eat at least half of this though, please? It’s better to at least have something in you before I give you some medicine.”

   

   The Italian sighed before eating a little more than half of the soup and the piece of bread that came with it. 

   

  “I couldn’t get you to eat all of it, can I?” 

   

   Nico looked at him with pleading eyes, and Will laughed. “Okay, okay, it’s enough for tonight.” 

   

   Nico took medicine for sore throat and fever, and finished the bottle of water before going to the bathroom to get ready for bed with the disposable toothbrush Will gave him. He also changed into the white sleep clothes for infirmary patients. 

   

  “It’s different, seeing you in something that’s not black.” Will commented.

   

  ”I know! I want to get my normal pyjamas from my cabin.” 

   

  “It’s cold outside now though, get them tomorrow, alright?”

   

   He had already changed his clothes anyway, so he relented and got back into the bed. 

   

  “So, when do you go back to your cabin?” Nico was not about to admit it, but he was kind of iffy about staying the night alone in the infirmary. 

  

  Will looked up from whatever he was writing at the desk. “Oh, well when there’s a camper I want to monitor, I usually stay the night here on that sofa over there. The beds all have curtains, so you’ll still have your privacy. Are you not comfortable sleeping with someone else in the same room?”

  

  On the contrary, Nico was extremely relieved to have company. He wasn’t going to say that, of course. “Nah, I was just asking. Do what you usually do. Why don’t you just sleep on one of the other beds?”

  

  ”It’s for patients. Also, I’m lazy to change the sheets.”

  

  Will gave him a pill and a new water bottle on the bedside table then placed the cloth across Nico’s warm forehead before he returned to the desk.

  

  The rustle of paper and scratching of the pen became white noise as Nico’s eyelids started to feel heavy, and he fell asleep. 

  

  Nico dreamt that he was alone, stuck in a dark and dank maze whose walls changed with each turn he took so there was no way out. He wandered aimlessly as it shifted, trying to find the way out but wondered if he ever would. Flapping wings and shrieking echoed from the darkness behind him, and Nico started to run. The maze’s walls started shaking and groaning as the sounds got louder, catching up to him and overwhelming his senses, and the ugly, feathery creatures that often haunted his dreams grabbed at him from all directions. 

  

  He started awake in cold sweat, breathless, with his heart racing and Will Solace’s hand on his shoulder. The curtains around his bed were drawn, and a lamp on the infirmary desk cast the room in dim, orange light. It made Will look like he was almost angelic in the glow. 

  

  “Hey,” Will whispered as Nico began to calm down a little. “It’s a nightmare.”

  

  Maybe it was the fog in his brain, maybe he was vulnerable from having just woken from a nightmare, but when Will made to leave his side, Nico’s hand instinctively reached to grab the edge of his shirt. Nico immediately let go, but the damage had been done. He closed his eyes and tried to fight the embarrassed blush threatening to rise. Hopefully Will thought he was still half asleep or something. A damp cloth wiped the perspiration from his face and neck, and he heard Will changing the water in the basin before the cool cloth was back on his forehead. 

  

  The scuff of a chair and weight on his arm prompted him to look, and Will was sitting by his bed, reading some book. Nico did not liked to be touched without permission, but he couldn’t deny the comfort it brought, and he had a dreamless sleep without waking for the rest of the night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Every time I try to set a schedule, responsibilities come in to make sure I can’t keep to it :’) Still, I’m determined to finish a multi-chaptered story...! Please let me know in the comments any yay, nay, or okays :3


	3. Spilling Secrets Suck

 

On Saturday morning, his temperature spiked a bit, worrying Will into a frenzy, but by evening his fever had completely gone. Will insisted that Nico stayed at the infirmary the entire weekend to be safe. 

  

  During that time, his friends visited him a couple of times to check in, but Nico mostly spent his time talking to Will, reading, or sleeping. Will had also stayed over with him, so he had only woken up once from nightmares those two days. The first-aid assistant had left the stool beside Nico’s bed, assuming his position beside Nico’s bed before he fell asleep. 

  

  The Italian felt bad because it couldn’t have been comfortable to spend the night in a chair, and  Nico woke up the next morning to find Will sleeping in folded arms on his bed. When he stood, Nico could tell his body was definitely stiff even if he tried to hide it.

  

  Monday morning and the time for Nico’s return to the Hades cabin permanently, and not just for clothes and showers, rolled around. Aside from the nightmares he seemed to chase away, Nico thanked Will for his undivided care and attention. Perhaps it was because there hadn’t really been any other patients besides a couple of small injuries here and there, but the blonde had practically smothered him in TLC even to the point of trying to feed him the minestra soup, which was appreciated but a tad overkill. Will made Nico promise again to inform him immediately the moment he felt unwell.

  

  The brunette sighed, falling into his own cabin’s bed again. His activities started tomorrow, so he would have to go and sign up for activities later. Dark eyes caught sight of the Camp Half-Blood journal, and Nico flipped it open, thinking for a bit before scribbling some more words a few empty lines below the first entry.

  

    _1 July, Day five._

_Had a fever. Sleeping in the infirmary with Will Solace helps the nightmares somehow._

 

 He quickly crossed out “with Will Solace”, striking out the words until it couldn’t be read anymore. He snapped it shut and tossed it back on the bedside table, his face warm but not because of any fever. 

  

  Nico lay on his back, letting his thoughts wander. To his dismay, they wandered back to the blonde first-aid assistant before he realised it. It was quick, but Will being there had become a form of comfort to him. It calmed him in a way not much else could. The guy exuded an air of tranquility that he had let himself become drawn to. 

 

  When had that started? They definitely hadn’t gotten off on the right foot immediately, Nico had insulted him the first chance he got. Then what? Will had, for some reason, tried to befriend Nico anyway. Luckily too, because they ended up getting picked by Chiron as buddies for the entire summer camp.  

  

  Spending the weekend in each other’s constant presence hadn’t been bad at all. They joked and laughed a lot. Sure, they bickered over dumb things and sometimes Will irritated him too, but it had been a while since he could let his guard down to wholly and genuinely enjoy someone’s company. It felt a bit different than with his friends. Nico realised that thinking about the weekend had made him involuntarily smile, and he quickly neutralised it and chewed on his bottom lip.

  

  In fact, when he stopped to properly think about it, Will was kind, an aspiring doctor, good-looking, and had a good sense of humour. He was the entire goddamn package, he probably had a girlfriend. Did he? Nico thought hard about any mention of a girlfriend. Wait. Why did that even matter? Will was just a friend, and he wouldn’t be happy if he knew Nico was thinking about him like that. The brunette shook his head to get rid of nonsensical ideas. This was dangerous, he didn’t want to be disappointed again, things were fine the way they were. Still, his heart felt like lead, a stark difference to the high spirits he had entered his cabin in.

  

  Glancing at the alarm clock, Nico still had half an hour before breakfast was over. Most of the good stuff would be gone, but he decided to get something to eat. Most of the campers would probably be getting ready to start daily activities, too, so he would have the dining pavilion to himself. Percy was assisting with horse riding lessons today, (the beasts just loved him, no one knew why), Annabeth was helping out at the rock climbing wall, and Piper was leading arts and crafts today, which left Jason free to hang out before lunch. 

  

  He accompanied Nico to sign up for the upcoming week’s activities before they stopped by the stables to watch Percy explaining to a group of campers how to mount and get the horse to walk, trot, and run. Jason was the first to find out about Nico’s crush on Percy and had been cool about it. It was not easy for them to talk about it, but he supported Nico through it, keeping his secret and assuring him that none of them would think of him any differently because of his feelings.

  

  They moved on to watch a bit of the other activities, waving at Annabeth and Piper when they passed the climbing wall and arts and crafts stations. Eventually reaching the archery range, Nico recognised the red-and-green-haired girl that had been with Will during the first campfire. She was helping out with the lesson, demonstrating how to hold and draw the arrow on the bow, before aiming and releasing it with a solid thud close to the bull’s eye. She noticed the two boys watching and put the campers to practice before approaching them. 

  

  “What’s up, Kayla?” Jason grinned. “This is Nico.”

  

  “Not much, archery class,” she offered a hand to Nico. “And I know, Will told me. Hi Nico, I’m Kayla Knowles.”

  

  Nico’s eyebrows raised as he shook her hand. “Nico di Angelo. We got paired as buddies.”

  

  Kayla’s eyes twinkled in amusement. “I heard. Listen, if there’s one thing about Will, sometimes he runs on his emotions especially when he’s interested in something, so you’ll have to forgive him if he gets a little… intense.”

  

  “Don’t I know it,” Nico shared her knowing grin, thinking back to the first night at the infirmary.

  

  Kayla laughed. “He’s a great guy, though, I’ll vouch for it.”

  

  Something caught in Nico’s thoat. “Are you guys…?”

  

  “Oh, no way, that’s impossible!” Kayla laughed loudly and shook her head. “We’re just childhood friends, and he’s like a brother.”

  

  Nico ignored the relief that flooded him.

  

  “Kayla!”

  

  They turned to see Will approaching.

  

  “Hey! We were just talking about you!” Kayla’s grin became mischievous. 

  

  “Oh?” Will’s head tilted in curiosity. 

  

  “Yeah,” Kayla rested her head on her hand. “Nico thought we were going out.”

  

  “Oh!” He laughed. “Nah, it’s impossible. And we’re like siblings, you know?”

  

  “You guys keep saying it’s impossible just because you’re childhood friends, but you never know how things will be in the future. Piper told me that she thought I’d never notice her feelings and we’d always be just friends because she was so shy, but now, I don’t know how I’d go on without her as my girlfriend.” Jason smiled fondly.

 

“That’s so sweet,” Kayla sighed. “But it’s literally impossible, I’m just not Will’s type.”

 

“Of course, some people just aren’t interested in each other that way, so—“

 

“Jason,” Will took him by the shoulders, “I’m not interested in girls.”

  

Jason frowned momentarily until it clicked. 

  

  “Really?? So, like, you prefer guys?” Jason’s wide eyes kept shifting to Nico even though he was talking to Will. Nico resisted facepalming; Jason was definitely not the most inconspicuous person.

  

  Will nodded. “Hope it doesn’t weird you out or anything.”

  

  Jason’s tone was excited. ”Oh please, we’re not living in prehistoric times, people have different preferences. I didn’t know you were into guys, Will, or I’d have intro—“ 

  

  “ _Yes_ ,” Nico cut the blonde off with a side-eyed warning glare. He knew what Jason was going to say, and he definitely didn’t appreciate it. “Thanks for sharing, Will. It’s almost lunch, so we’d better get the others.”

  

  Jason finally backed off, his hands held up in surrender. As they were leaving, Nico glanced back once more to see Will looking back at him.

  

  Nico’s activities schedule for the rest of the week ended up being:

Tuesday - Archery, arts and crafts, and rock climbing

Wednesday - Rest

Thursday - Archery and horseriding

Friday - Arts and crafts, canoeing, and Capture The Flag.

Saturday - Blacksmithing

Sunday - Rest

 

  By dinner time on Friday, Nico was sore and tired. His disturbed sleep was back, and the schedule was busier than he was used to, but at the same time at least he didn’t really have time to feel bored. He was learning new skills, ones which he had to admit were kind of cool even if he was not so good at them yet. 

  

  Everyone started preparing for Capture the Flag. Percy, Annabeth, and Nico were on the same team, while Piper and Jason were on the opposing side. Nico was nervous, this being his first actual game since arriving at camp. The game would begin at eight-thirty, which was in fifteen minutes. Percy and Annabeth were more veteran players, so they were leading going over last-minute strategies. Nico hadn’t realised how seriously everyone actually took this game.

  

  “Nico!” Will waved at him as he approached. “We’re on the same team this week. Percy’s going to be leading the main charge, but I’m always the scout at the halfway line. Wanna stick together?”

  

  “I don’t know what that means exactly, but sure.” Nico felt slightly calmer at being around someone familiar. 

  

  He smiled with his usual warmth. “Basically, we go around an area we’re stationed at and make sure no one sneaks an attack from there. If not, we have to make sure to warn the defence lines that an attack’s coming.”

  

  While Percy led the main attacking group and Annabeth stayed near the flag with their main line of defence, Nico and Will hid in the woods near the halfway line between both stations to try and cut off sneak attacks from the woods.

  

  The campers each had a little bamboo whistle they were taught to make during arts and crafts that they were to blow thrice in case of trouble, and they were allowed to bring anything that wasn’t life-threatening or too dangerous to use as weapons. Nico had a length of rope hanging around his shoulder, and Will had confidently declared that he didn’t need a weapon for his role.

  

  Currently, Will had convinced Nico that he knew the best place to keep watch while staying hidden, so there they were, sitting in the sturdy branches of a peach tree, facing each other with their legs dangling. It wasn’t a very tall tree, but under the cover of night, they wouldn’t be noticeable. They had tied the rope Nico had into a sort of lasso, and set a trap such that if someone walked under their tree, Will and Nico would yank the rope that was draped over a branch above them and whoever walked into the trap would dangle upside down.

  

  Nico had to admit, it was nice. The cool, night breeze swept through, rustling their hair and the leaves. He hadn’t climbed a tree since his childhood with Bianca, but along with melancholy, he felt a strange sense of enjoyment as well, leaning against the tree trunk and watching Will pick one of the ripe fruit. Nico’s gaze became increasingly impressed as the blonde opened the small satchel bag that slung across his shoulder, pulling out a handkerchief to wipe the fruit down and using a small switchblade to skin and cut it. He offered the first slice to Nico, and they finished the sweet fruit quickly.

  

  “Where did you learn to do that?” Nico asked, as Will tossed the pit onto the grass and started to wipe off his switchblade.

  

  “My mom taught me. I’ve never seen anyone that can cut so precisely with a small knife. She gave me this one.” He twirled the knife once before retracting the blade and stuffing it back into his satchel. 

  

  Nico raised an eyebrow at Will. “Your mom just happens to be skilled with small, sharp weapons. What did you say her day job was again?”

  

  Will laughed. “She’s a country singer when she isn’t assassinating fruits.”

  

  “That’s cool. A country singer mom and doctor dad, sounds like the ultimate talented family.”

  

  Will’s smile wavered in the slightest, but he maintained it. “Hmm, maybe, but they’re separated, so it’d be hard to advertise it as that.”

  

   This was why Nico hated talking to people. If the other person wasn’t the one to say something stupid, he was the one making things awkward.

   

   “Oh, I’m— I’m sorry.” Nico scrambled.

   

   Will shifted closer to him. “Don’t be, it happened ages ago when I was a baby, so it’s always been like this.” He shrugged. “It’s not like I don’t see my dad at all, that’s why I come to camp every year even though it’s kinda far from home. And honestly, if they’re happier like this, then that’s how I’d rather things be.” 

   

  “Oh.” Nico didn’t know what else to say.

   

   “What about you?”

   

   “Huh?”

   

   “Tell me something about you.”

   

   “Okay, um… I was born in Italy.”

   

   Will leaned forward in interest. “Oooh, Italy! And then?”

   

   “Well, we moved to Washington DC when I was really young, and someone decided to rob my mother while she was coming home one night, but he ended up stabbing her, and she… died.” The moment he said it out, he couldn’t stop and everything started to spill out. “My dad sent me and my older sister Bianca to boarding school there for a while, and then we stayed in Las Vegas for a little while, for some reason. Then he sent us to military school in Maine, where a car hit Bianca and _she_ died. But now my dad has a new wife and I have a half-Sister, Hazel. She’s precious to me, but not like… Not like Bianca, you know? Nothing like Bianca. And then I had feelings for someone that I wasn’t supposed to, I didn’t want things to be like this...”

   

   “Oh, Nico…” 

   

   Will pulled Nico into a hug, and it was only then when he squeezed his eyes shut that he realised his face was streaked with tears, because they were currently soaking into Will’s shirt. A sob caught in his throat, and the two boys stayed like that with Will rubbing his back soothingly until Nico calmed down enough that his breathing was normal again. 

   

   Nico hated how pathetic he felt, but at the same time he couldn’t deny how warm and comforting it was to be in Will’s arms. He didn’t understand how this guy he had just met this summer could turn him into such a mess. He only remembered ever crying in Bianca’s arms once before when their mother had passed away. 

   

   Nico sniffed hard, pulling back from Will’s embrace and wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “Sorry about your shirt.” He grimaced at the wet spot that darkened his shirt at his left shoulder.

   

  “Don’t worry about it.” The blonde pressed tissues from his satchel into Nico’s hand, making him snort in amusement.

   

  “Thanks. You have everything in there, huh?”

   

  “Nah, but some preparation is still better than none.”

   

  “Annabeth would approve.”

   

   “We’ve bonded over it in the past.”

   

   It was weird, but crying it out actually made Nico feel better than he had felt in a long time. Nico cleaned his face up, and actually laughed when Will opened a pocket of his satchel lined with a small plastic bag for him to toss his ball of used tissue. 

   

  “Nico, you’ve had it really rough, and I know it wasn’t easy for you to say it out. But I just want you to know that anytime you need someone to talk to, or just for anything, I’m always there for you.” Will’s voice and expression was so earnest, Nico’s heart swelled like it seemed to do a lot around the blonde.

   

   “I didn’t know guys nice to your extent actually existed.” Nico sighed, willing his heart rate to slow it’s accelerated pace. “I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.”

   

   Will smiled, then suddenly sat up straighter. He raised his legs onto the branch and whispered, “Did you hear that?”

   

   Footsteps shuffled through the grass below them, occasionally crunching a twig. Nico’s raised his legs as well and tightened his grip on the rope.

  

  “You’re walking too loudly, Clarisse, someone’s gonna hear you!” Travis or Connor Stoll’s whisper was frustrated.

  

  “You’re the one stepping on all the twigs in the forest, _Stoll_ ,” Clarisse la Rue’s rough voice hissed back. “I wanted to lead the main charge, but noo, the twin monkeys need someone to babysit them!”

  

  “We wanted Silena Beauregard, not you.” One of the twins mumbled. 

  

  “What was that?” The Ares cabin’s head counsellor growled.

  

  “Nothing!” Both boys squeaked.

  

  From where their voices were traveling, it sounded like they were going to walk right under their tree. Will and Nico shared an excited grin. 

  

  “It was a mistake to team up with the Hermes cabin,” Clarisse continued complaining. “We should be on the way back with the flag by now, but a goldfish has a longer attention span than the both of you combined, I sweAAR—“

  

  She was cut off by the rope closing around her leg and suspending her upside down. Travis and Connor Stoll screamed, running in different directions. 

  

  “Let’s go!” Will whispered, and they both scaled down the tree to quickly tie the rope to lower branch. They ran towards their side of the woods, trying to hold back their laughter as they left Clarisse pendulum-swinging and screaming for the twins to come back. They only let go when they were far away enough, collapsing onto the ground under a tree and laughing until their guts hurt.

  

  “How did you… How did you know they’d pass under that tree??” Nico wheezed.

  

  “I don’t know why,” Will gasped, “but every week during Capture the Flag, someone passes by that tree.”

  

  “So you wait at that tree every week? That’s why you always get the role at the halfway line?”

  

  “Yeah, usually on my own,” Will grinned. “That peach tree is my special outpost, you’re the first person who’s been up there with me on it.”

  

  That set off butterflies in his stomach. He suddenly noticed how close their hands were on the grass, if he were to move it two inches, their pinkies would touch. He glanced up at Will, who was blowing a lock of blonde hair from his eyes. Their hands were now only one inch apart.

  

  Loud screams and whoops made Nico jump, and he quickly yanked his hand away as if it had been burned. They got to their feet and made their way towards their flag to see what was going on. Nico was grateful for the night, because it was hiding how hot his face felt. 

  

  Annabeth and Percy were celebrating with the rest of the campers in their team, holding the enemy flag up beside their own. 

  

  Will shoulder-nudged Nico to get his attention, and leaned closer to him. “So what did you think of your first game of Capture the Flag?”

  

  His heart pounded. “Pretty alright.” 

  

  That was what he said out loud to Will with a small smile, but he had something different to say when he lay on the Hades cabin bed, writing in the camp journal.

  

  _5 July, Day nine._

_First game of Capture the Flag today. I spilled everything about mom and Bianca to Will Solace, there’s just something that makes him easy to talk to. I’ve never done anything like that before._

_Something felt different_ _today, and I don’t know what to do about it._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I’m doing something wrong with this chapter notes thing, lol ^^’
> 
> Anyway, please let me know as usual if you have anything you liked or disliked :3 Constructive criticism is helpful <3


	4. Sleeping Outside Sucks

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Just wanted to say a couple of things:  
> 1.WARNING! There’re some bad words in this chapter.  
> 2.So sorry for the long break between this chapter and the last... ;-;  
> 3.Um, I tried my best with the riddles and stuff, most of them are thanks to the internet but a couple had to be pulled from my ass, so I’m sorry to any and all riddle and puzzle enthusiasts out there lol! I know these kids are probably quite smart and would figure this stuff out easily, but bear with me if they seem stoopid or something ^^’ anyway, feel free to solve ‘em for fun haha :3

 

    It was already mid-July, a couple of weeks had passed since the game and Nico’s mini-meltdown. He hadn’t really talked to Will much since then, except when they passed by each other in between activities. Things with the blonde were feeling really on and off. They could go from sharing deep, family-related secrets to weeks of only exchanging hi’s and bye’s. 

    It confused him, and he was too uncertain to do anything about it.

     Will had said so himself, he wasn’t interested in girls. Nico had felt a bit anxious when the blonde had admitted it, because now it meant that Nico had a chance, right? Previously, he had excuses for why he couldn’t approach Will, but especially after that Capture the Flag game, he thought that maybe they were getting closer.

     Did Will even think of him that way at all? And did Nico want to be any closer than this? So many questions, it was giving him a headache.

     Nico was snapped out of his thoughts by Chiron’s voice, bringing his attention back to dinner. He mentally chided himself for getting lost in thought again.

“Tomorrow is Camp Half-Blood’s annual scavenger hunt, where each team will gather letters and solve a word puzzle. There will be no stealing letters from other teams or any nonsense like that. Just use your common sense to know what not to do, please.” Chiron’s gaze lingered on the sheepish Stoll twins when he said that. 

“Teams will be in pairs, which will automatically be your buddies unless I’m informed differently by tonight. The maps and clues will be distributed tomorrow after lunch, shortly before the hunt will begin and it will end half an hour before dinner. Everyone is to be back at the dining pavilion by six-thirty _sharp_ for attendance, whether or not you have completed the hunt. Anyone even a minute late will be automatically disqualified. Winners will be the team that collects all the letters, completes the puzzle, and brings them to me first. They will be awarded a prize during campfire.” Chiron’s tone took a more serious turn. “I cannot stress this enough, teams _must_ stick together. I absolutely do not want you splitting up to try and find the clues faster, because the letters will be scattered in the woods as well. Safety is the top priority. In the event of rain, the hunt will be postponed. Is everything understood?”

    The campers nodded in acknowledgement before breaking into excited chatter amongst themselves. 

    Nico’s gut was already fluttering with anticipation. Once again, he and Will were going to be hanging out for an extended period of time, just the two of them. Everything felt like it was moving so quickly, and he had gotten this “attached” to Will so soon that it was actually embarrassing. The guy got his family life just from one evening in a peach tree, imagine what he could get in a whole afternoon.

    Will approached Nico during dessert, armed with the easy smile he always seemed to have as he slid into the bench opposite of Nico. “Hey, partner.”

    Nico snorted. “Howdy. What’s up?”

”Thought I’d come over and make sure we’re a team for the scavenger hunt tomorrow,” Will propped his head on the table with his arms. 

“I might consider it if we divide the duties to you checking the woods and camp grounds while I search the Hades cabin for those letters.” Nico stirred his melting pistachio ice cream innocently.

    Will laughed. ”As convenient as that plan would be for you, it’s a no-go, di Angelo. Didn’t you hear what Chiron said? Teams _must_ stick together no matter what, and never in any circumstances leave each other’s side.” 

“Oh, is that what he said.” The brunette scooped a spoonful of the treat into his mouth.

”Yes, and I quote.” Will scrunched his nose at Nico’s puddle of ice cream. “Although I might have to reconsider our partnership now after seeing how you eat ice cream. You’re supposed to eat it, not drink it.”

    Nico scoffed. “You’re one to judge eating habits, Solace! That’s right, you thought I didn’t see you eat the gummy worm that you dropped in the grass yesterday, but I did.”

    He smirked triumphantly at Will’s offended face. “I’ll have you know that was my last bag of worms, and if you stayed at the Apollo cabin with those beasts, you’d understand how precious they are!” 

    They bantered until their respective friends and siblings came to get them. Nico noticed that he seemed to be forming a nasty habit of going to bed a little excited for the next day.

    The next morning was beautiful with thick, white clouds speckled across the strikingly blue sky. Everyone was enjoying the comfortable breeze that swept gently through the entire camp, and energy levels were high with the approaching scavenger hunt. By the time lunch was over, some campers could barely sit still, and fidgeted all the way to the amphitheater where they sat in respective team-pairs. They finally received a map of the camp and a riddle sheet

 

    1.  **I can travel from there to here by disappearing, and here to there by reappearing. What am I?**

_To find me, look in the domain of the beast of a winning hand_ .

    2.  **From the beginning of eternity,**

**The end of time and space,**

**The beginning of every end,**

**And the end of every place.**

**What am I?**

_To find me, I am tombed in a direction that never changes, at a sound that only tempest rages._

    3.  **What begins anywhere, stands between war, and ends an era?**

_To find me, look in the eye of the place you can summon the will to conquer weakness_ .

    4.  **What appears once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?**

_To find me, look for the place with straw littered at your feet, where a single choice helps determine sweet victory or bitter defeat._

    5.  **I always appear in Winter, but never in Summer, Fall, or Spring. What am I?**

_To find me, put me ahead of all and stand tall above the rest._

    6.  **What has one in every corner, two in every room, but only one in the world?**

_To find me, visit the one who sees everything without looking._

    7.  **What is in the middle of Paris?**

_To find me, look under the sunshine-dyed skin of the meek._

    8.   **I am silent in front of a knight, but proudly loud in front of a king. What am I?**

_To find me, I am held in the power of the sky._

    Answer: __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __

    Campers started filtering away from the amphitheater in teams to start on the hunt. 

    Will looked over the sheet of paper. ”So it looks like the bold sentences are to guess the letters that make up a final word, and the italicised ones tell us where to find each letter.” 

“Maybe we should sit somewhere and work out the answers, so we have some idea of where to go instead of walking around randomly.”

”Okay, that’s a good idea.” Will nodded. “Want to try the Apollo cabin?”

    The pair made their way to the gold-painted cabin, but before they even reached the door, bursts of laughter came from inside. Will immediately dropped his hand that was reaching toward the door handle.     

“Well, most of my bunkmates are in there. We’d never get any quiet around them, so it’s better to find somewhere else.”    

“What about my cabin?” Nico blurted before he thought twice about inviting Will, who was the current object of his rampant and confused interest, to his room. Alone. Just the two of them. So he scrambled, trying to deter Will from agreeing. “Although on second thought, the decor just isn’t that good, and I think I may have left a huge mess so actually—“

”I don’t mind.” Nico didn’t have the chance to suspect the gleam in Will’s eyes before the blonde had started walking.“No bunk mates means no one to disturb us, right?”

”Right…” Nico followed trudgingly and mentally smacking his forehead. _Calm down, just be cool._

“Whoa.” Will stared wonderously at the dark cabin.    

“Is that a good or bad whoa?” Nico could already feel his defensiveness rising.

“A good one,” Will grinned, “It’s cool, but I always wondered what it looked like inside.”

    Nico opened the door wide. “Here’s your chance.”    

    Will’s “hmmm” as he looked around made Nico irrationally anxious. “What is it?”

“I guess I was expecting at least a few bats or maybe a coffin.”

    Nico snorted in amusement. “I think the house you’re looking for belongs to The Addams Family.”

“Maybe,” the blonde smirked. “Well, we’d better get to work.    

    An hour later, their puzzle sheet was almost complete:

        1.  **I can travel from there to here by disappearing, and here to there by reappearing. What am I?**

_To find me, look in the domain of the beast of a winning hand_ .  Blackjack the horse’s stable.

    2.  **From the beginning of eternity,**

**The end of time and space,**

**The beginning of every end,**

**And the end of every place.**

**What am I?**

_To find me, I am tombed in a direction that never changes, at a sound that only tempest rages._

Direction that never changes:  ~~ Left and right ~~ NORTH! Sounds that tempest (storm) rages:  ~~ Loud, somewhere loud. Somewhere noisy. Somewhere with a sound Sounds like ~~ Long Island Sound

    3.  **What begins anywhere, stands between war, and ends an era?**

_To find me, look in the eye of the place you can summon the will to conquer weakness_ .

    4.  **What appears once in a minute, twice in a moment, but never in a thousand years?**

_To find me, look for the place with straw littered at your feet, where a single choice helps determine sweet victory or bitter defeat._ ~~ Straw strawberry fiel  ~~ The armory. 

    5.  **I always appear in Winter, but never in Summer, Fall, or Spring. What am I?**

_To find me, put me ahead of all and stand tall above the rest._ Top of the climbing wall.    

    6.  **What has one in every corner, two in every room, but only one in the world?**

_To find me, visit the one who sees everything without looking._ Cave of Delphi.    

    7.  **What is in the middle of Paris?**

_To find me, look under the sunshine-dyed skin of the meek._ Golden Fleece.

    8.   **I am silent in front of a knight, but proudly loud in front of a king. What am I?**

_To find me, I am held in the power of the sky._ Zeus’ Fist.

    Answer:   T  E  A  M  W  O  R  K 

    It had not been difficult to figure out the letters, but some of the locations had made them pause and they could not quite figure out the answer to the third location.

    Eventually, the pair decided to start looking for the other letters first and worry about the last letter later.  They secured the letters scattered around the camp quickly, and had the T, M, W, O, and R cards tucked in Will’s bag. They found the letter E under a rock and partially covered in sand after combing Long Island Sound beach, and began to make their way towards Zeus’ Fist, a rock formation in the middle of the woods, for the letter E. However, they still had no clue where the letter A could be. 

“In the eye of the place you summon the will to conquer weakness. Conquer. Weakness. The eye of the place… The eye. Eyes? No, eye. The eye, the eye.”

“Will, oh my god, I can’t think clearly when you do that!” Nico glared at the blonde.

    Will threw up his hands and glared right back. “Well, _I_ can’t think clearly if I don’t do that!”    

    They were getting frustrated, and it was causing tension between the boys. 

    Will severed the angry eye contact between them and sighed. “Maybe we should take a break.”

    Nico’s glare also softened. He looked down at his shoes and nodded.

    They sat on a horizontal log in awkward silence and with a noticeably empty space between them, pointedly avoiding looking at each other until Will spoke up.     

“Look, it’s only barely past three right now. We have almost all the other alphabets and like, three and a half hours to solve one riddle and find that last letter. Let’s just… calm down about this whole thing, okay?”

    Nico gave Will a fleeting glance. “… Yeah. I don’t know why I got annoyed either. I didn’t mean to.”

    Will’s smile returned and he closed their distance between them on the log. “I’m sorry too, I’ll try to think less loudly. Now eat something, you stick.” 

    He handed the brunette a fruit energy bar and a bottle of water from his bag, and Nico gratefully took them. They ate, sheltered from the sun by the thick woods and enjoying the light breeze blowing through. This time, the silence was comfortable.

    They continued onward to Zeus’ Fist after resting for a while longer. Finding a few K cards protruding from the crevices of the rock formation, they plucked one and turned to make their way back. By that time, because the rock was quite deep in the woods, it was already almost four. Nico and Will talked about the remaining alphabet while on the long walk back to camp.    

“The eye of a place, that usually means the center, right? So it’s in the middle of a place where you can conquer weakness?” Nico wondered.

“Logically. That makes sense, so we need to think of a place to conquer weakness. Something like a training area? Somewhere people get stronger.….?” 

“That means it’s in the camp and not in the woods, huh.”

“Probably. Eye and training, wait, maybe it has something to do with archery? Like, bull’s eye or something. Did we check the archery range?”

    Nico had stopped responding, and Will realised that he had disappeared. The blonde turned back to see that the Italian boy had stopped and was staring at something. Will followed his gaze to a tree growing near the edge of a slope that angled down so sharply that it looked like a cliff’s edge. The tree was not very tall, but what caught Nico’s attention was something flat and white hanging off the leaves and branches of the tree, dangling over the edge of the slope. The white object looked like an alphabet card they had spent the last few hours collecting.

“Is that-?”

    Nico approached and looked over the edge of the slope. It was not high up, but the expanse of it was studded with rocks and extremely steep to the point that it was impossible to make your way down without sliding down. It would be a stretch, but Nico thought that it was not impossible to reach the card. He gripped the tree branch and tried to reach out towards it.

    Nico was giving Will anxiety with how he was basically reaching over the edge of that slope like that, and he was about to stomp over to give Nico a good telling off about how one did  _not_ normally lean over the edge of a steep slope when he abruptly froze. 

“Nico.” Will whispered, but the black-haired boy did not budge from where he was now on his toes to reach the piece of paper. 

    He tried whispering louder. “Nico…!”

    Still nothing.    

“Nico di Angelo!!” Will hissed.

“What?!” Nico turned, but his glare turned into wide eyes when he saw what Will was desperately gesturing to. 

    A huge skunk had wandered right at the base of the tree that Nico was gripping onto, pacing the area only a couple of feet from the Italian and trapping him at the cliff-like edge.     

    The boys’ eyes met, sharing alarmed gazes.  The black and white beast suddenly stopped and hissed, walking around in small circles. Nico’s breath caught in his lungs.

“Listen, Nico,” Will said in a low voice,” I’ll try to lure it away from you with food. Just don’t move. Got it?”

    The younger boy nodded slowly. Will opened his bag to rummage for something the skunk might be interested in. The skunk hissed again, and started to bite at Nico. That was when he noticed it.

“Will?” Nico piped up. “It’s not normal for skunks to drool this much, is it…?”    

“It’s not normal for skunks to even show up in the daytime, they’re supposed to be nocturnal. Wait, drool? Can you tell if its mouth is foaming??”

    Between the snapping teeth and aggressive circling, the Italian could see that it was indeed frothing at the mouth. 

“Yeah.” He confirmed. Great, the thing was rabid.

    Will huffed and hurried his actions in searching his bag. 

    The skunk raised its tail and gave short, feint charges at Nico, making him tense.

“Will, anytime now?” He struggled to keep the panic he felt from his voice. 

“I swear I had another- There!” He pulled out his last fruit energy bar, holding it up triumphantly. 

    Will looked up towards Nico and time slowed. The skunk lunged forward suddenly and nipped at Nico’s shoes shocking him into letting go of the tree branch and flinching back. The blonde’s heart leaped in his chest as he watched Nico’s foot slip and the Italian fell over the edge.

“FUCK! NICO!” Will yelled, sprinting to the brink. The skunk scurried off, startled by the sudden shout. 

    Anxious blue eyes searched the tall grass and foliage growing at the bottom of the steep slope. “Nico!?”

   When he received no response, Will slid down the gritty slope on a whim, scratching his legs up a little and tumbling at the end onto soft grass and plants. He quickly got to his feet and pushed aside plants, desperately looking for the other boy. 

    He found Nico unmoving in the grass. 

“Oh god, Nico!” He hurried over and fell to his knees beside him. The brunette was breathing heavily and had his hands pressed onto his face. 

“Nico, can you hear me?” Will asked, trying to assess any injuries. The boy was scratched up on his arms and legs, but Will was worried about any internal sort of injuries.

“Di Angelo, please.” Will laid a feather-touch on Nico’s shoulder and could already feel how tense he was. “Tell me where it hurts.”

“… Foot.” Nico bit through grit teeth. 

    Will immediately looked to the Italian’s shoes and noticed that his right leg was particularly scraped up and had a large gash down to his ankle lazily leaking blood. It must have cut against one of the many protruding rocks during the fall, and could see that it would probably need some stitches.

“Are you able to move it at all?”     

“It hurts like hell, Will.” Nico choked out, as if he was trying not to cry. Will’s heart squeezed.

“Okay, you’re okay Nico. Is there anywhere else that hurts? Did you hit your head?” 

    Nico shook his head from his awkward position on the ground.    

“Alright, I'm going to need you to try and sit up, can you do that? I ”

    Slowly, Will helped Nico into a sitting position and leaned him against a nearby tree.  He gently lay the injured foot on his lap and pulled out a handkerchief, a roll of bandages, medical tape, and a bottle of water from his bag. 

“This is probably going to hurt,” Will warned before pouring water over the wound and applying some pressure with the handkerchief to try and stop the bleeding. Nico inhaled sharply, clenching his shirt in his fists.

    Will started to wrap the bandage around the wound. “I’m sorry, bear it for just a bit more for me.”

    The pair hadn’t noticed, but by the time Will had finished dressing the wound as best as he could at that moment, almost an hour had slipped by. It was almost five, they were barely halfway back to camp from Zeus’ Fist, and Nico could barely move. 

“We need to try and make our way back to camp,” Will said after letting Nico rest for a while. He slowly moved Nico’s foot back onto the ground from his lap and stood up. “It’ll be past dark by the time we get back, but if we don’t start moving now it’ll be too dark to see.”

    Nico nodded and let Will pull him up. He tried to put his foot on the ground, but regretted immediately as pain shot through it. Even with Will’s support, because of the injury they moved through the woods at a snail’s pace, and the lower the sun set behind the trees, the more anxious the boys got. Still, Nico had strongly rejected the idea of Will carrying him.

    When it was past six, the last bit of sunlight strained to light their way but the pair was still roughly an hour from camp, and that was if Nico was not injured. When they had tried picking up the pace, it ended up with Will tripping on a tree root and both of them going down. It agitated Nico’s wound and blood spotted the bandage. Will quickly helped Nico up and bent to check the bandage.    

“Will, you have to go ahead and get help from someone in camp.”

    Will looked up at Nico as if he had lost his mind. “I’m not leaving you alone here like this in the woods past sunset!”  

    Nico sighed. “That’s why I told you to go earlier when the sun was still out.”    

“It was too late in the evening, by the time I could bring someone back, it would’ve been dark anyway and who knows what could have come and dragged you off?”

    Nico rolled his eyes. “You’re seriously stubborn, you know that?”

“You’re one to talk.” Will straightened up, arms folded.

    Their voices were starting to rise in volume.

“I’ll climb a tree or something, just go get some damn help!”

“I _said_ I’m not leaving you out here!”

“And I said to fuck _off_ , Solace!”

“Well maybe you should shut the hell up, di Angelo!”

    Nico was a little shocked that Will had cursed right back, but that surprise was instantly buried in his growing annoyance. “Then why don’t you get lost and just let me die out here so I can do that!”    

    Will felt the unfamiliar rush of anger when he heard that and his eyes narrowed into icy slits. “You’d better not say stupid things like that, you dumbass.”

    Nico pushed Will, not as hard as he would have liked because of his leg, but it was hard enough to make him take a step back. “Why not, huh?! I can say whatever the hell I-” 

    Will grabbed his shoulders and exploded. “Because I _like_ you, okay!! Why else would I choose to be partners with such an idiot?!”

    That stunned Nico into stupefied silence. They stared at each other, short of breath.

“… I thought the partners were assigned by Chiron.”

    Will let go of Nico and turned away quickly in embarrassment. Awkward silence blanketed them, and a bush somewhere nearby rustled. “We should find some shelter.” 

    Nico stumbled along behind Will, who kept glancing back every few seconds. He obviously wanted to help the injured boy, but there was a weird air thick between them that prevented any of them from doing or saying anything. 

“-Ouch..!” Nico staggered after accidentally stepping too hard on his right foot.     

“Okay, you know what?” Will went right up to Nico and lifted him in a fireman’s carry.

“Hey!” Nico started to struggle. “I don’t want-”

“Nico!” Will grunted. “Stay still! Just until we find somewhere to stay for tonight, okay?”    

    Nico sighed, going limp and grumbling. “Fine, I was tired of walking anyway.”

    Thankfully, it was not a cold night, but the cool breeze still sent goosebumps prickling along their skin. A glance at his watch told Will that it was seven, half an hour after they were meant to be assembled at the camp amphitheater. Despite being at the mercy of the rapidly darkening forest, the dread of Chiron’s incoming massive lecture loomed in Will’s mind. The activities director did not mess around with their assembly deadlines, and especially after his speech specifically warning them about the woods, the two boys were definitely screwed. The blonde had never gotten into big trouble with Chiron in all the summers that he had attended Camp Half-Blood before. Only now, when this stubborn and gloomy boy had shown up, Will’s life had veered off in some crazy direction. They clashed and argued harshly, yet at times, they shared such tenderness with each other. 

“Will!” Nico smacked the blonde hard on the shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“Ow! What the heck!” 

“Are you deaf or something? I said that tree over there looks pretty good.”

    The tree Nico pointed at had thick, wide-spreading branches that sprouted from a sturdy trunk and hung low. They could take shelter under the branches, or climb it without much problem if necessary. The boys approached it, gingerly checking for any wildlife or danger through the pale, silver full moon light. Besides a frog that hopped away hastily, there was nothing else inhabiting the tree so they settled under it, leaning against the stable trunk. Neither said a word even as they sat close together to fight the night’s cool and distress of the wilderness. 

    Will couldn’t deny that there was a wild party in his chest, and prayed that his pounding heart was not audible. Why had he opened his big mouth earlier? The heat of the argument had gotten to them, and he had spouted what was on his mind without a second thought. Should he clarify things? He had not even really said anything specific, though. “I like you” could come with many meanings, and they were friend. Nico could have taken it in that sense, and Will had ended that sentence by calling him an idiot. He could not deny the disappointment that seeped in with the relief. 

“Nico…”

“Hm?”

    Will started. Nico’s name had accidentally slipped out of his mouth. What the heck was wrong with him? “I need to- I mean, let me check your leg.” He scrambled.

    Nico felt Will’s warm hands gently lay his foot on his lap like he had earlier when he had dressed it. The Italian felt rising heat in his body despite the particularly strong gust that waltzed through the forest. They could still talk to each other normally, but there was an obvious lingering delicacy with their interactions from their earlier row. Nico’s brain could not let go of what Will had said last. That he liked him, and had chosen to be his partner. He had gone to Chiron to request being paired up with him, that was why when the buddies had been announced, his name had been the last to be called. A giddy excitement bloomed throughout his body, or was it fear? He could not tell for sure. The moonlight cast the blonde in a resplendent glow as his attentive stare traced Nico’s bandaged leg. He suddenly looked up and caught Nico’s eyes. 

“The blood spotting is pretty mild, this should hold up until tomorrow until we get back to camp at least. I don’t think we’ll have to air lift you to a hospital yet, so that’s a good thing.” Will’s tired grin still sent butterflies aflutter in Nico’s stomach as he nodded.

    Will propped Nico’s foot on his bag to keep it at least a little elevated before moving back to sit at his previous spot, their shoulders brushing. They sat quietly, listening to crickets and other insect noises that made the woods seem bustling despite the night. Bushes rustled, and they barely heard a coyote’s call echoing from much deeper in the woods. Just in case though, Will held the peach knife tightly in his hand. 

    Nico’s stomach grumbled suddenly, and Will could not hold back his laughter. Nico drew in his uninjured leg to bury his face in his knee from embarrassment. 

“Shut up, it’s past dinner.” He mumbled into his knee, words muffled.

“I’m sorry,” Will wiped at the tears of laughter that had sprung to his eyes. “Look, I still have that last energy bar. You haven’t had any water for hours, too.” He handed the last of the food and water to Nico.

“But what about you?” 

“I’ll be fine until tomorrow.”

“No, you even carried me for a while. At least have half.”    

“No, it’s fine-”

“It’s _not_ fine, don’t be-”

“Nico-!”

    Nico cut him off when he broke the energy bar in two and stuffed one half into Will’s mouth.

“Well now it has your spit on it. Guess you have to eat it.” Nico smirked, triumphantly taking a sip of water.    

“Technically, that bottle also has my spit, considering I drank from it earlier.” Will said in amusement between bites energy bar.

    Nico accidentally choked on the water and Will laughed, patting his back.

“That’s different!” Nico gasped.

    Will chuckled. “How is it different?” 

“It just is!” 

    And that was that. They ate and drank in an atmosphere lighter than before. 

    When it was past ten, Nico’s eyelids started to feel heavier, and Will volunteered for first watch. Nico gratefully closed his eyes, drifting to sleep. He barely noticed his head falling to rest on Will’s shoulder. Sleeping outside definitely sucked, but it was a little more bearable when it was both of them together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Thank you for reading this if you did! <3  
> I’m planning to just finish this story before going back to fix mistakes, and maybe slowly rewrite everything because there are parts that I’m not happy with and would like to refine. Still will be grateful for any constructive criticism! ^^

**Author's Note:**

> I have no affiliation with Foxtrot, Sherman’s Lagoon, and Garfield comics!  
> Also come on who’s with me, we all used to read the newspaper for the comics, amirite :)
> 
> This started as a one-shot that didn’t stop, so now I have ideas for a multi-chaptered story..  
> I’ll take it as practice lol, so please feel free to let me know what’s weird, what sucked, and what didn’t suck! :D I’ll probably edit it as I go too, I spot any mistakes on my own.  
> The plan is to update weekly, or as quickly as possible. 
> 
> P.S. I <3 constructive critisicm too.


End file.
